Scarlet Sunset, Silver Nights

by Leigh Greenwood

  And as Billy Wilson, he couldn’t marry Pamela.

  The thought of living without Pamela made Slade feel physically ill. It was no longer just the loss of a home, a wife, a community he could belong to. It meant losing the woman he couldn’t live without. It might be easier just to go back to Brazos and let them hang him. Then it would all be over. There’d be no dreams turned into nightmares by the memories of what he’d lost. He wouldn’t be reminded by every wife and child he met of the price he had had to pay. He wouldn’t have to go on looking for happiness that was never going to come.

  Hell! If he ever did go back to Texas, he’d kill every Briarcliff he could find.

  Stop it, Slade told himself. He was falling into the old familiar pattern of despair, the same feelings of hopelessness which dogged him before he met Pamela. Things did look pretty grim, but he was still alive, he had his freedom, and Pamela loved and believed in him. He wasn’t giving up, not when the reward was being able to live his life with Pamela at his side.

  He would first concentrate on clearing up the accusations that he had shot Mongo and killed Josh White. He’d save Texas for later. There had to be a solution there, too. Maybe Pamela’s idea about a lawyer was a good one. He’d have to think about that, but not at the moment. Right now he had to concentrate on proving to everybody, not just Pamela, that Dave Bagshot had shot Mongo Shepherd and killed Josh White.

  And he had to make sure Pamela wasn’t his third victim.

  “All the boys say he’s got to be guilty,” Gaddy said, his mouth full of fried ham. “Otherwise, why would he have pulled a gun on the marshall?” He reached for another biscuit and covered it generously with gravy. “I never knew you could cook so good, Pamela. I thought I was going to starve now that Belva’s off ”

  “I like to cook. Besides, there’s not much else for me to do with my time.”

  “Wait until you get married and have a passel of kids. You probably won’t never want to see a kitchen again. My ma sure didn’t.” Gaddy stopped, his food halfway to his mouth. Large tears ran down Pamela’s cheeks. He’d never seen her cry before. In fact, he’d only seen one grown woman cry. He’d thought that was as miserable as he could ever be, but watching Pamela stand there, her eyes closed and the tears streaming down her face, was worse. She had scolded him and ordered him about, but she had also taken care of him. Now when he had a chance to help her, he didn’t know what to do.

  “I’m sorry if I said something wrong,” he mumbled. “I can finish eating when you’re feeling better.”

  “Go on, eat your dinner,” Pamela said, as she angrily wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I’m just worried about Slade. It’s been two days and nobody’s heard a word from him.”

  “Ain’t likely to either,” Gaddy said, regaining some of his composure. “The boys ain’t sure about Uncle Josh, but they’re all-fired certain he shot Mongo. They ain’t too anxious to meet up with him.”

  “He didn’t do any such thing,” Pamela stated, indignant that anyone wouldn’t believe in Slade as blindly as she did. “He’d be right here with me this very minute if the sheriff hadn’t come after him. He killed those men in Texas in self-defense, but he didn’t do anything else they say he did.”

  “Well he ain’t going to get anybody to believe that now, not with him taking Marshall Alcott’s horse and guns and leaving him to walk.”

  “Dave said he left his horse down the trail.”

  “Don’t make no difference. Taking a man’s horse is a shooting matter.”

  “Men!” Pamela announced with disgust. “There’s not two in the whole territory with enough sense to see what’s in front of their faces.”

  “I do, and I can tell you that if that Slade Morgan comes sneaking around here again, he’s going to leave with a seat full of lead. He treated you shabby, and I mean to tell him so.”

  “Gaddy Pemberton, if you so much as aim your rifle at Slade, I’ll shoot you myself. And then if there’s anything left of you. I’ll throw you out in the desert for the buzzards. If you think I’m going to house and feed a blockhead who hasn’t any better sense than to shoot the man I love, then you’re not as smart as I thought you were. And that never was very much.”

  “I ain’t talking about those killings. I never believed Slade did that, but he promised he wouldn’t run out. I ain’t much on family feeling, Ma and Pa were too cussed mean for me to feel kindly toward ‘em, but you treated me better’n your own brother. What kind of man would I be if I let Slade get away with smirching your name?”

  Pamela horrified Gaddy by giving him a big hug and an even bigger kiss. Stammering and blushing fiercely, he didn’t know which to rub off first, the kiss or the wet spots on his cheeks caused by her tears.

  “If you really want to help me, you can continue to believe in Slade,” Pamela said drying her eyes once more.

  “I do, but nobody else does.”

  “I know, and that’s partly my fault. Almost from the first Slade told me what was going to happen, but I wouldn’t believe him. Then Belva told me the same thing before she disappeared.”

  “What would she know? She’s just a …”

  “Don’t say it, Gaddy Pemberton. If you ever want to eat a decent meal again, you’d better get outside and make sure nobody comes near here without you knowing. Slade once told me we’d been underestimating you all these years. Well, now’s your chance to prove it.”

  “Slade said that?” Gaddy stammered, scrambling to his feet in confusion, pleased by Slade’s unexpected commendation, bewildered by Pamela’s uncharacteristic pugnaciousness.

  “Why do you think he left you to watch the ranch while we were on roundup? He knew somebody was going to try to get in here.”

  “And I stopped them,” Gaddy said, pride making his slender chest swell.

  “Yes, you stopped them. Now do it again. Only this time you’ll do it without my crystal Christmas bells.”

  “You’re never going to forgive me for that one I broke, are you?”

  “I’d let you shoot the entire set to smithereens if I could just have Slade back.”

  The tears started again, and Pamela ran from the room. She didn’t want to make Gaddy any more uncomfortable than he already was. Besides, there was nothing he could do. It seemed that Slade was the only male in the whole universe who knew what to do for her when she was miserable.

  Pamela felt the hand over her mouth, and she started up out of her sleep in panic. Belva and Slade had warned her she was in danger. Why hadn’t she moved to another room? Why hadn’t she put Gaddy to guard the house at night?

  “It’s all right. It’s me.” Even whispered, Pamela recognized Slade’s voice, and she threw herself into his arms.

  “I’ve been so worried about you,” she said between laughter, tears, hiccups and rough, greedy kisses.

  “You needn’t be. It’s a lot easier to hide than it is to find somebody.”

  “Just hold me,” Pamela begged. “I never feel so safe as when you’re with me.”

  “I’ve got all night,” Slade assured her. “I won’t leave until dawn.”

  Slade had told himself he wanted to go slowly, that he would savor every moment as if it were his last. But the intoxication of having Pamela in his arms once more destroyed all his desire for restraint. He wanted to consume her in one mighty gulp.

  Her kisses, as hot and moist as his own, ignited the fire in his loins. It was all he could do to keep from ripping her gown off then and there. Only by concentrating on the taste of her lips and the softness of her skin was he able to channel the hot desire that flowed from every part of him. The discomfort caused by the tightness of his pants was only a momentary problem.

  He stripped down to the skin.

  The sheets felt smooth and cool, Pamela’s body soft and warm, her lips sweet and hot. His tongue plunged into her mouth, seeking, probing, rousing Pamela to an equally passionate response.

  Pamela thought he smelted different, and that intrigued her. No scent o
f soap or fresh, sun-dried clothes clung to him. Instead he smelted of a heavy, musky odor, a scent she found much more suggestive of the man she had come to love. He was unshaven, too, but she liked the roughness. It was hard and abrasive like the man she loved.

  But his touch was as gentle as the kiss of the wind. His fingertips caressed her neck and shoulders, teased her ears, played with her hair, traced her eyelids, tickled her lashes.

  “I dreamed about you every night,” Slade murmured as his lips laid a trail of kisses down her neck, across one shoulder, and down her arm. “It was agony.”

  Pamela held him even closer. It was probably the nicest thing he had ever said to her.

  But she forgot about everything when Slade’s lips found and sucked one firm, sensitive nipple and a fingertip systematically tortured the other. Her body arched against him as the fire in her belly spread to her whole body and made her shiver like a leaf in the wind.

  Without waiting for him, she wriggled out of her silk nightgown, more anxious to feel his roughness next to her than the smoothness of the world’s most priceless silk. It never failed to amaze her that his mere touch could kindle such fierce desire, but it was impossible for her to hold him close enough or tight enough. It was also impossible for her to remain still. Slade’s assault of hands and lips roamed over her whole body. She was aflame with wanting him. His fingers gently rubbed against the little swollen nub of her passion. It sent flames swirling through her blood. He gently dipped a strong finger inside her silken lips.

  Her own hand sought out his throbbing manhood. Gently she caressed its length. Slade clinched as though he had been struck.

  “Oh, God,” he groaned. She pressed him gently, and he lost all control.

  He entered her hastily, but she didn’t care. She was more than ready for him. She didn’t want to wait any longer. She had dreamed of him as well, had lain awake for hours, her body stiff with unquenched desire. That was all at an end now, and she rushed to join him on a cresting tide of ecstasy.

  “I didn’t know what had happened to you,” she told him much later. “I was so afraid someone would find you. They’ve all turned against you Slade, even our own men. You’re not safe here.”

  “I know, but that’s not important now.”

  “Yes, but…”

  “Listen to me,” Slade said and kissed her into silence. “As much as I hate to admit it, I didn’t risk my neck sneaking into your bedroom just for the pleasure of lying in your arms. I came to warn you that Mongo is massing his herd along the river. He means to stampede them onto your land tomorrow night.”

  “I’ll tell Dave. He’ll gather the boys, and we’ll meet you about dusk.”

  “No. You’ll have to do this yourself. They’ll never follow me.”

  “When I explain that…”

  “It won’t work, Pamela. Dave Bagshot is the man behind this whole mess.”

  “Dave?” Pamela echoed, stunned.

  “Yes, Dave.”

  “But he can’t be. He’s been the hardest-working foreman Dad ever had.”

  “Probably because he had decided this was going to be his ranch some day.”

  “How? I wouldn’t marry Dave, even if he wasn’t already married.”

  “I’m not sure he was going to ask you.”

  “But why?”

  “I haven’t got time to explain. Just listen carefully and make sure you do exactly as I tell you.”

  Pamela was still so shocked by Slade’s disclosure, she found it very difficult to pay attention. But she had to. He had risked his life to see her tonight. He had to be right, and she had to believe him.

  “You got all of that?” Slade asked when he was through.

  “I think so.”

  “Just remember, no matter what objections Dave raises, you must do exactly as I said. I don’t think he’ll disagree, this raid serves his purpose too well, but don’t let him change the smallest detail. You won’t be alone,” he added in a softer voice. “I’ll be nearby.”

  “You will be careful, won’t you?”

  “Nobody has more reason to want to come out of this with a whole skin than I do. I’d take on every cattle-hungry crook in the whole territory if I had to. I intend to be sitting on the front porch twenty-five years from now, waiting for my sons to ride in for dinner, surrounded by a bevy of daughters sophisticated enough to satisfy even Jane Austen.”

  Pamela gouged him sharply in the side.

  Slade let out a whoop loud enough to bring the boys in from the range. Fortunately he muffled the sound by burying his face in the pillow.

  “I’ve got to be going before you get us both caught. I don’t imagine the marshall took too kindly to my leaving him on the trail. He’d probably be mighty pleased to have a second chance at me even if his Ben Warren isn’t around to identify me.”

  “He didn’t go,” Pamela said. “Seems his business in California wasn’t so pressing after all.”

  “Now I wonder why I’m not surprised?”

  “You think he was lying?”

  “I know he was. There wasn’t anybody in Brazos named Ben Warren when I grew up. There weren’t any Warrens at all.”

  “Be careful, Slade. If they want you so bad they’ll pay people to lie about you, they’ll do anything.”

  “They is Dave. You’ve got to realize that. Can’t you believe me?”

  “I’m trying, but I’ve known Dave for so long. I just can’t believe he would kill Dad.”

  “Greed does strange things to a man. I imagine he’s been wanting this ranch ever since he got here. The idea of taking it just grew on him gradually. He probably wasn’t aware of it until he’d figured out how to do it.”

  “I still cant…”

  “Don’t try. Just believe in me.”

  “I have no trouble doing that.”

  “Good. I’ve got to go. Remember, exactly at seven-thirty tomorrow.”

  “I should have posted Sid at the ranch instead of that worthless Gaddy,” Dave was saying to Pamela. “Slade wouldn’t have gotten by him.” It was just past eight o’clock. The Bar Double-B men had been in position for almost an hour.

  “It’s okay, Dave. Slade loves me. He’d never do anything to hurt me.”

  “Maybe, but I still don’t like the idea of that man being able to sneak into the house right under our noses. It makes us look stupid.”

  “Right now I need you to worry more about keeping Mongo’s herd on the other side of the river. If they overrun our range, you won’t have much of a reputation to worry about.”

  Dave hadn’t put forth any objections. Considering the fact that from the minute he had heard about Slade’s escape he hadn’t stopped trying to turn Pamela against him, she was surprised he hadn’t objected to her following the strategy of a man he now stigmatized as a liar and a killer.

  But there was no questioning that Mongo’s cows were being held near the river. Anybody could see that from miles away. Mongo had picked a good spot. There was no cover for Pamela’s crew for at least half a mile and nothing to hold back the invading cows.

  Pamela stared into the night, but Mongo had chosen his time well, too. The clouds obscured the slender new moon. Pamela couldn’t see anything. Secretly she gave thanks for the dark night. Slade’s whole plan depended on it.

  Pamela listened intently. Ever so faintly she heard the muffled squeak of wagons. She hoped Mongo waited long enough for her men to prepare their bonfires along the river bank. Slade said they should light them the minute the cows hit the water.

  An hour passed, then two, and still the men hauled every bit of brush, deadfall timber, anything that would burn to the river. Slade said that Mongo’s herd would hit the water along a wide front. The shock of a fire right in front of them ought to turn them. If not, the men were to shoot the leaders and block their path with dead cows.

  “I’m going to see how things are going down at the river,” Dave said finally. “I can’t just sit here wondering.”

  “Hurry
back and let me know.”

  “Sure,” Dave said and disappeared into the night.

  Pamela was unprepared for the sound of Slade’s voice coming out of the dark.

  “You still don’t believe he’s the one who killed your father, do you?”

  “Slade!” Pamela exclaimed, her voice a suppressed hiss. “Where have you been?”

  “I helped the boys for a while. They couldn’t recognize me in the dark. But for the last half hour, I’ve been waiting for Dave to go down and have a look for himself.” He kissed her. “I’ve been wanting to do that for hours. Knowing you were up here just made it that much harder.”

  “Should you be here? Isn’t it too dangerous?”

  “It’s probably the safest place I could be. Everybody is fully occupied elsewhere. Now, let’s see what we can find to entertain ourselves until Dave gets back.”

  “You’re shameless, you know that don’t you, but I love you anyway.”

  “That’s only fair, after all the faults I overlooked in you. Don’t you dare go after my ribs again,” Slade hissed imperatively when Pamela tensed for the attack. “I don’t have a pillow this time.”

  “Coward,” Pamela cried and subsided into his arms, her own arms tightly encircling his waist. “You don’t intend to abuse me like this after we’re married, do you?”

  “I take a solemn oath to treat you like a Dresden doll.”

  “I don’t think I’d like that. I’m sure this is a major tactical error, but I rather like your rough ways. At least when you make love to me, I figure you’re doing it because you really want to.”

  Slade only managed by the barest good fortune to catch his crack of laughter before it exploded into the quiet of the night.

  “I’ll keep that in mind for the first time you accuse me of mistreating you.”